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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BUCHAREST 000153
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE WILLIAM SILKWORTH
STATE ALSO FOR INR/B
STATE PASS TO USAID
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2015
TAGS: PGOVPRELKDEMSOCIECONPINRRO
SUBJECT: THE NEW GOVERNMENT'S FIRST WEEKS - BASESCU COMES
OUT STRONG
REF: BUCHAREST 130
Classified By: POLITCAL SECTION CHIEF ROBERT GILCHRIST FOR REASON 1.4 A
, B AND D
¶1. (C) Summary: During his first several weeks in office,
President Traian Basescu has been outspoken on the fight
against corruption, foreign policy priorities and the status
of the center right National Liberal Party -Democratic Party
(PNL-PD) political alliance with the small Humanist Party
(PUR). Meanwhile, much of the PNL-PD led government has
focused internally on filling sub-ministerial jobs and
appointing new prefects to represent the national government
at the county level. End Summary.
ACTIVIST PRESIDENT
------------------
¶2. (C) Despite a constitutional provision restricting the
partisan political activities of the head of state, President
Traian Basescu's blunt public comments on a range of issues
have grabbed headlines since his December 20 inauguration.
Indeed, many political analysts and ordinary Romanians have
remarked that Basescu, so far, is Romania's most outspoken,
visibly "hands on" president since the 1989 overthrow of
communism. Few Romanians are troubled by Basescu's forays
into partisan politics, notwithstanding the constitutional
ban on this kind of activity, recalling that ex-President
Iliescu overtly supported the PSD and PM Adrian Nastase
during 2004 local and national elections.
BASESCU ON FOREIGN POLICY AND CORRUPTION
----------------------------------------
¶3. (C) Since his inauguration, Basescu has been particularly
outspoken about Romania's foreign policy priorities and the
fight against corruption. In a January 10 television
interview, he chided previous governments, complaining that
Romania has had only two foreign policy priorities for the
past decade - accession into NATO and the EU. Basescu
highlighted the Black Sea as a region where Romania should
play an important role, opining that the U.S. is the only
country willing and able to help "consolidate Romania's
strategic position in the Black Sea region." Since his
inauguration, Basescu has also publicly restated the
importance of strengthening what he described during the
campaign as the "Bucharest-Washington-London axis," a theme
he recently repeated in private meetings with USG
interlocutors. Basescu also has stressed that Romania should
play a more active role in helping to resolve the frozen
conflict in Transnistria, criticizing previous governments
for insufficient engagement on this issue. Finally, to
underscore Romanian commitment to the anti-terror fight and
to the U.S., during the past week Basescu told both the
Ambassador and NATO Supreme Commander Jones that the "last
Romanian troops would leave Iraq only with the last American
troops."
¶4. (C) Basescu has reminded citizens of his campaign pledge
to treat the fight against corruption as a national security
issue. He has promised to pursue cases against individuals
allegedly protected by the previous government, a direct
allusion to a pending criminal fraud investigation against
several senior managers of the Rafo Onesti oil refinery and
the government's recent action to block the departure from
Romania of two senior Rafo officials. Basescu has also
asserted that the government should pursue "mafia clans" and
major corruption cases. PM Tariceanu, for his part, has
declared that fighting "corporate fraud" will be among the
government's key priorities, and that his government may ask
for help from the U.K., Germany or France to assist with the
investigation of several high profile cases.
¶5. (C) On New Year's Eve, Basescu matched his candid public
comments with behavior that his admirers describe as
"spontaneous" and his detractors decry as "unpresidential."
Eschewing the traditional custom of delivering a staid,
televised presidential address a few minutes before midnight,
Basescu took the stage before several thousand revelers at a
downtown Bucharest celebration where he toasted Romania and
drank champagne from a bottle. For many, Basescu's hoisting
of the bubbly - which was caught by the TV cameras - was
emblematic of his unconventional style.
INTERNAL POLITICKING IN THE RULING COALITION
--------------------------------------------
¶6. (SBU) In a newspaper interview published January 6,
Basescu described the small Humanist Party's (PUR) presence
in the National Liberal Party-Democratic Party (PNL-PD)- led
government as an "immoral solution" to the PNL-PD's
relatively weak parliamentary support. The PUR had aligned
itself closely with the PSD during the elections. The
solution, opined Basescu, is new parliamentary elections that
would permit the PNL-PD to capture a clear parliamentary
majority. In the same interview, Basescu also said that PNL
and PD should move ahead with a planned merger and that
PNL-PD should take steps to oust the presidents of the
Chamber of Deputies and Senate -- ex-ruling Social Democratic
Party (PSD) PM Adrian Nastase and Nicolae Vacaroiu,
respectively. Finally, in a statement that enraged some PSD
leaders, Basescu opined that neither Nastase nor former
President Ion Iliescu is fit to head the PSD. (Comment:
Basescu's tough attitude toward his new allies in the
Humanist Party (PUR) seems to have been a well calculated
step to call the bluff of these defectors from the PSD-led
opposition. While the PUR threatened to withdraw their
support or make it conditional, Basescu's answering shot -
possible new elections and extinction of the PUR clearly
carried the day. End Comment.)
¶7. (C) PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu subsequently declared in a
newspaper interview published January 14 that "no political
party" wants parliamentary elections soon, and characterized
the brouhaha surrounding Basescu's remarks about the PUR as
"perhaps a clash of egos, but not a political crisis."
Nonetheless, Tariceanu defended Basescu's outspokenness and
characterized the bruited PNL-PD merger as "the most
important and necessary thing at this moment." Other PNL and
PD leaders have expressed support for a merger - but not just
yet. Bucharest Vice-Mayor Ludovic Orban, a PNL member,
perhaps best captured the spirit of many mid and senior level
PNL and PD leaders when he commented publicly that the merger
should take place, but only "when the fruit is ripe."
GOVERNMENT GETTING ITS SEA LEGS
-------------------------------
¶8. (C) Leaders of the PNL-PD, their ethnic Hungarian party
(UDMR) allies and the PUR also used the initial weeks of
their turn at the helm to discuss allocation of prefect
positions among the parties. The prefects are the national
government's appointed local representative in each of
Romania's 41 counties, and Bucharest. Except for the PUR,
which ultimately opted not to request a share of prefectures,
the final tally reflects the relative parliamentary strength
of the governing coalition: 22 prefects are PNL members, 16
are PD, and 4 are UDMR.
¶9. (C) Media commentators observed that many of the prefects
are "young and rich," with the youngest only 27 years old.
For the first time, two prefects are women. The prefects'
youth and gender breakthrough reflect Basescu's and
Tariceanu's campaign promises to bring "new faces" into
government. One appointment of an "old face" provoked
controversy - the designated Bucharest prefect, a PD member,
was an officer in the "foreign intelligence division" of the
infamous communist-era "Securitate." President Basescu
expressed "huge disappointment" at his being named prefect,
and he resigned from the position after only several days in
office. The government also held fast to its decision to
appoint several ethnic Hungarians in areas with large Magyar
populations, despite protests from nationalists.
¶10. (C) The next important administrative task facing
Tariceanu's government is the appointment of state
secretaries, de facto "deputy ministers." Until the
SIPDIS
positions are filled, many Ministries are relying on the
services of the state secretaries from the previous
government. The slots also fall into the political appointee
category, so PNL-PD, UDMR and PUR functionaries are
discussing their allocation among the parties. According to
recent reports, the appointments will occur sometime in
February and will be allocated as follows: PNL-25; PD-19;
UDMR-10; PUR-9. The government has already named several
state secretaries, but more than 50 positions are still
vacant. The new government is also hampered by logistic
problems. Many incoming ministers complained, and the press
has confirmed, that departing cabinet members and their
staffs emptied many offices of furniture and files and
disconnected phone lines.
¶11. (C) Practical difficulties notwithstanding, however,
several new ministers, including the PM, have used their
positions as bully pulpits, outlining their goals and
strategies. PM Tariceanu promised that his government will
examine contracts awarded by the previous government,
including a major highway construction contract awarded to
American corporation Bechtel. Justice Minister Monica
Macovei stressed that she would focus on taking steps to keep
Romania's EU accession on track, including implementation of
regulations aimed at regulating conflicts of interests by
public officials and governing immunity of former officials.
PARLIAMENTARY DEFECTORS TO STRENGTHEN RULING BLOC?
--------------------------------------------- -----
¶12. (C) PNL spokesman Eugen Nicolaescu claimed January 10
that 30 legislators from the PSD and the extreme nationalist
Greater Romania Party (PRM) are poised to leave their parties
and join an "independent group" that would support the
government. PNL-PD sources have not revealed the identities
of the possible defectors, and Nicolaescu's announcement may
be principally a PNL-PD attempt to destabilize and demoralize
the PSD and PRM. However, the 30 possible defectors could
include five deputies from the National Democratic Bloc
(BND), unionists elected on the PRM parliamentary list, and a
PRM senator who have already broken with the party. PSD
insiders also confirm that the former ruling party is
internally divided and in the midst of a leadership struggle
- a situation which could encourage some fainthearted PSD
parliamentarians to jump ship.
¶13. (C) Comment: Most Romanians appear to welcome
Basescu's plainspoken candor and apparent commitment to
follow through on campaign promises to combat corruption and
implement reform. The new Government's early approval of
flat tax legislation also added credence to a perception that
this government plans to move quickly (Reftel). Basescu's
persona as President has differed relatively little from his
behavior as candidate - although his preferred public attire
of polo shirt or loosened tie and rolled up shirtsleeves
appears to have been mostly replaced by sober business suits.
At the same time, Basescu's outspokenness may serve to
deflect some public scrutiny from the fact that PM
Tariceanu's government remains a work in progress, requiring
competent state secretaries and prefects to function
efficiently. Early "glitches" - such as naming a
communist-era intelligence officer as Bucharest prefect -
reflect the new government's growing pains. However, his
speedy departure seemed to indicate a decisiveness lacking in
the former government. End Comment.
¶14. (U) Amembassy Bucharest,s reporting telegrams are
available on the Bucharest SIPRNET Website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest .
DELARE